BANANA RECORDZ COUNTDOWN chart
Intenational (previously titled Banana Recordz Countdown ''and ''The Countdown) was a Canadian-American music countdown podcast. The independently broadcasted program was produced by Banana Radio, who distributed it through select internet services. The show initially launched on November 11, 2011 as Banana Recordz Countdown with Joshua Kingston serving as the program's host. After airing only 1 episode, the podcast was put on hiatus, and finally returned over a year later on February 25, 2013; without a host. The podcast was put into hiatus on May 7. On July 30, 2013, the podcast returned as Banana Radio for a single episode trial run. The following month, Banana Music stated that they had approved the trial episode however that the podcast would be revamped with another new format. On October 1, it was announced that Banana Radio had been cancelled and that a third incarnation of the original podcast would replace it. The third incarnation debuted on October 22 under the on-air title The Countdown, which became the official title on December 6. The third incarnation's second season debuted on February 1, 2014 under the title Intenational, stylized as In10ational. The season ended on March 25, 2014, and was cancelled in June 2014. History '2011: Pilot episode' Banana Recordz Countdown was initially announced in October 2011, with Josh Kingston attached to host the countdown. Banana Music planned to air a new episode each Friday, with each episode counting down the top five songs of the week. The podcast premiered via SoundCloud and Tumblr embed on November 11, 2011, and was scheduled to air a second episode a week later, however Banana Music placed the podcast on hiatus immediately, looking to relaunch the show with a new format. '2012–13: ''Banana Recordz Countdown Several efforts to revive Banana Recordz Countdown took place throughout late 2011 and 2012. Banana Music planned to revive the program during the last two weeks of 2011 for two special episodes that would focus on the top Christmas songs of all time and the top songs of 2011, however these plans were later cancelled. Following this, revival efforts were reported and confirmed several times throughout 2012, however never took form. In July 2012, Banana Music announced that the program would return the following month with Josh Kingston returning as a host, however Kingston dropped out of the project shortly after the announcement. The podcast was subsequently placed on an indefinite hiatus. In November 2012, it was reported that Banana Radio was considering continuing the podcast without a host. In January 2013, Kingston confirmed that he would not return to the podcast, if it were to return, because he was focusing on recording his new album. On February 25, 2013, Banana Radio announced that the program would return immediately, with new episodes set to air every Monday. Banana Music ordered an initial 8 episodes for the revival season. They confirmed that there would not be a new host for the revived project (with exception of a computer-generated voice reading song titles), and that the show would drop its previous focus on Entertainment News in order to give it an “entirely music-focused environment”, which allowed the podcast to be expanded to countdown 10 songs instead of 5. A new segment, entitled “New Release of the Week” was introduced, creating an 11-song podcast. The revived program airs via Chirbit. Josh Kingston returned to guest-host an episode of the podcast on April 8, 2013. On March 18, 2013, Banana Music placed an order for an additional 6 episodes of the season, creating a planned total of 14 episodes. Beginning on April 22, 2013, the podcast began counting down the top 12 songs isntead of the top 10. During the episode of the last week of April, the series moved to Tuesdays instead of Mondays. On May 6, 2013, it was announced that the podcast would be put on an indefinite hiatus following the airing of the next episode. The final episode of the shortened 11-episode season aired on May 7, 2013. Banana Radio said in a statement on May 14, 2013 that Banana Music had ceased their contract for the remaining 3 episodes of the season and that they were unsure of the podcast's status. On May 23, 2013, Banana Radio announced that they were in negotiations to have the podcast return to air the final 3 episodes of the season in June 2013 – however on June 1, 2013, Banana Radio said in a statement that these negotiations had been unsuccessful and that the podcast would likely return in Fall 2013. '''2013–'14: ''The Countdown On June 12, 2013, Banana Music announced that Banana Recordz Countdown would return in October 2013, with Josh Kingston in negotiations to host. However, on July 1, 2013, it was announced that Banana Recordz Countdown would instead be replaced by a new podcast entitled Banana Radio which would introduce a new format intended to give Kingston more air time for his hosting duties. Banana Music said in a press release that the new podcast would operate in a radio-style format instead of as a countdown. Banana Radio later confirmed that negotiations with Kingston had been unsuccessful following Banana Radio's decision to move the podcast's premiere from October to July. The new podcast, Banana Radio, aired a trial episode on July 30, 2013. On August 12, 2013, Banana Music approved the trial episode however stated that the podcast would undergo "major" changes before returning. On September 9, 2013, Banana Music ordered an initial 8 episodes for the new podcast and revealed that Josh Kingston would not be involved with the new podcast due to scheduling conflicts. It was announced on October 1, 2013, that Banana Radio had been cancelled and that Banana Recordz Countdown would return on October 8, 2013; however this date was later postponed to October 22, 2013 after hosting negotiations with Kingston re-opened although these negotiations ultimately fell through. The program now uses a more simplified format and will air a new episode every Tuesday. Its on-air title is now The Countdown, however the program was still officially known as Banana Recordz Countdown. On November 7, Banana Music increased the season's episode order from 8 to 13 episodes. On November 25, 2013, it was announced that Josh Kingston had been hired as an executive producer on Countdown. The following day, it was announced that Countdown would begin airing 2 new episodes a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays) beginning on December 7. The podcast was officially re-titled The Countdown on December 6. The Countdown released a list called'' Top Songs of 2013'' through a Twitlonger on December 23; counting down the thirty most popular songs of the year. Banana Audio announced on January 5, 2014, that the final episode of the first season of the third incarnation of the podcast would air on January 28, 2014. '''2014: ''Intenational ''and cancellation The second season of the third incarnation premiered on February 1, 2014 under the new title Intenational (stylized as In10ational), however the program's on-air title remains The Countdown. On the day of the second season's premiere, it was announced that the second season would contain 30 episodes and conclude on May 13. The second season ended early on March 25, 2014, after just 14 episodes rather than 30. Banana Audio later confirmed that the podcast had entered an indefinite hiatus. On June 13, 2014, Banana Audio announced that the podcast would not be returning. Special lists